Aviva snap up Strand property

Asset management company Aviva Investors, part of the Aviva insurance Group, have bought 111 The Strand from German property company IVG. Aviva paid £35 million for the long leasehold on the property, which comprises 38,000 square feet of prime London office space.

The initial yield on the West End property is just over 5 percent, indicating that strength is returning to London’s commercial property market as rents stabilise but capital prices rise sharply. The average rent for the development is £54 per square foot. Currently five tenants are leasing offices there, but by far the largest is CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity groups. CVC accounts for 85 percent of the floor space, and their lease will last for another nine years.

Aviva are the largest property fund managers in Europe, owning £24 billion of property in the UK and on the continent.